WASHINGTON, DC — In response to the Senate Judiciary Committee's vote today on the nomination of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court, Karen Pearl, interim president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., issued the following statement:

"Samuel Alito is well outside the mainstream and poses a direct threat to women's health and safety. We applaud the senators who opposed this nominee. Today's close vote should give every senator pause as the confirmation decision goes to the full Senate.

"The American public wants and deserves a Supreme Court justice who will uphold our fundamental rights — Judge Alito is not the nominee for the job. We have mobilized more than a million Planned Parenthood activists and supporters to urge senators to reject the confirmation of Judge Alito. His long record of hostility toward women's rights and privacy rights make him a wholly unsuitable replacement for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor."